FoodI talWineIan t &r I buneTravel march 31, 2011 |11

The Publisher’s Tour This week our group ventured into the of to explore . The is located to the northwest of Venice and is home to Poli and Nardini distilleries, two of the largest grappa manufacturers in the world.

Bassano del Grappa: City of History, Architecture and Grappa Bassano del Grappa (it was and ceramics. The city was Bassano del Grappa has It has great symbolic mean- own unique features and art- originally named Bassano also home to the Remondini been the site of battles dur- ing for the and its vet- work. Il Castello degli Ezzelini ) was founded some- printing plant which became ing several wars including erans, after the destruction of (so named after the Ezzelino time in the second century famous throughout Europe the French Revolutionary War the bridge in WWII, took up family) with its imposing 98 B.C. by a Roman by the name during the 17th and 18th cen- and WWI. During WWI there a private collection and had foot high tower fell into ruin, of Bassianus. The town began turies. This family of printers was a brutal battle on Mount the bridge completely rebuilt. but has been restored and now as an agricultural estate but produced beautiful decora- Grappa leading to the loss of Often soldiers flock to the offers guided tours. There are gradually expanded into a tive papers as well as games, thousands of soldiers. It was bridge to remember and sing also several museums in the free commune during the 13th playing cards, wallpapers and after WWI, in 1928, that a de- songs from their days as alpine town; the Palazzo Sturm is century when it was under woodcuts of saints. cision was made to rename soldiers. The bridge is now home to a ceramics museum the rule of the Ezzelino fam- Bassano del Grappa is the city Bassano del Grappa to called the Ponte degli and the town museum has a ily. Bassano del Grappa passed also the birthplace of Jacopo honor the soldiers killed there. in honor of these soldiers. collection of ancient archeo- through the control of several Bassano, also known as Jacopo After WWII the town was in- There are several other sites logical remains. “owners” although it did main- da Ponte, who was born vaded by Germans who de- to visit in this town of approxi- This charming and pictur- tain a semi autonomous state. around 1510. His early works ported and killed many of the mately 45,000 inhabitants. The esque town is a great place By 1404 the town was under leaned towards religious residents. main Cathedral was initially for a relaxing day trip from the control of the Republic of paintings with novel features One of the notable sites one constructed around the year Venice. This is the final chap- Venice whose Senate assigned including animals but in later must visit is the wooden pon- 1000 and then renovated in ter of this year’s Publisher’s a Captain to oversee the ad- years his style was closer to toon bridge built and designed 1417; inside are works by na- Tour. Please join us later this ministration of the town. Over Titian and other Venetian art- initially in 1569 by Andrea tive artist Leandro da Bassano year as we travel to the next few centuries Bassano ists. Jacopo established his Palladio. The bridge, which (one of the four sons of Jacopo) again to explore and enjoy the del Grappa became home to a workshop in Bassano and crosses the River, has along with works of other art- many charms of Bella Italia. flourishing industry produc- was joined by his four sons. been destroyed many times, ists. There are several other ing wool, silk, iron, copper, Bassano died around 1592. the last time during WWII. churches of note with their 12 | march 31, 2011 ItalTIanavola trIbune Poli: The Grappa in the Beautiful Bottles During our visit to Bassano del Grappa we were invited to tour the Poli Distillery, an internationally renowned produc- er of grappa in the nearby town of , outside Bassano del Grappa. Our friend Jacopo Poli, along with his siblings Giampaolo, Barbara, and Andrea, continues the tradition of grappa production begun by his great-great grandfather GioBatta Poli, who founded the company in 1898. GioBatta, a hat maker by trade, turned his passion for grappa into a small business when he built a small still and went door to door distilling the skins of pressed grapes. GioBatta’s son Giovanni built a larger still by modifying a locomotive steam engine and continued expanding the business. The manage- ment of the distillery was then passed on to Giovanni’s son Toni who is credited with modifying the original alembic (an appara- tus used in the distillation process) in 1956. Jacopo proudly took us on a tour and explained the distilla- tion process as we stood in front of one of the modern stills. The distillery also has a still that is among the oldest in use today which consists of caul- drons completely made of copper. Grappa is made from JOCAPO POLI right, welcomes Tribune Publisher Buddy Fortunato to his elaborate the grape pomace, the skin distillery. of the grape, and Poli selects only the finest of these from vineyards located in Bassano del Grappa and from vine- yards in all . The distillation of the pomaces is continuous; the grape skins are placed on a large grate which is lowered inside the cauldrons and steamed for about three hours. It is heat intensive and huge puffs of steam are released as the grate is lifted out and set aside to cool. The product at this point resembles a cake that is several feet high and several feet in circumference. Jacopo is an intelligent and dynamic man who could have excelled in any profession but inherited the family passion for grappa and is dedicated to producing and selling the finest grap- pa in the world. One might even say Jacopo is responsible for the resurgence of grappa’s popularity. He has been at the forefront of the production of a variety of flavored grappas and is constantly modifying the selections sold by the distillery. Jacopo also had the idea to branch out from selling grappa in standard bottles only and created the now recognizable Poli glass bottle with the SARA BARNABA, marketing director, with from left, Dennis Lindsay, Buddy Fortunato, colored stone representing the grape, as well as bottles shaped Joe Fabio, Nino Donato and George Falco in the foyer of Poli Museum. like animals and Italian monuments. All sold in America now and highly praised by Grappa lovers. Involved in all aspects of marketing, Poli has traveled the world to introduce traditional and newly created products. During our tour we also had the pleasure of meeting Jacopo’s brother Giampaolo. He is in charge of transportation of Poli products and was gracious enough to speak with us for a few moments before we stopped by the store to purchase some clas- sic and newer flavored brands of grappas as well as their highly awarded Poli Brandy. The Poli Distillery has also created the Poli Grappa Museum which is located in front of the historic wooden bridge “Ponte Vecchio” in Bassano del Grappa. A guided tour in the Museum provides the visitor with the history of grappa and the distilla- tion process.

EXPLAINING THE PROCESS of making Grappa to the group is company president Ja- copo Poli.